WT Business Beat

By Nick Wakeman

Sequestration: Just fix it already

We seem to be hurtling toward the fiscal cliff but most experienced commentators are saying a deal will be struck. Disaster will be avoided.

Most predict the Republicans will blink because they fear they will carry the brunt of the blame for failure. But both sides continue to trade rhetorical barbs.

Following the news and listening to the statements and sound bites from our elected officials, I can’t help but think of an old boss of mine.

I was covering FDA for a newsletter company and each year we’d trudge to Capitol Hill for budget and other hearings. This is when the agency was trying to regulate cigarettes as a medical device because they were used to deliver the drug nicotine.

So I spent a lot of time up there and I’d write these stories and I’d include some colorful quote, but my boss would strike it out. It wasn’t long before my boss pulled me aside and told me to stop including those types of quotes and similar information.

“Ninety percent of what they say and do on the Hill is BS,” he said. Well, actually he didn’t say BS. There were a few more expletives thrown in there.

It’s only when they vote on something that they accomplish anything and then you have to waiting for the regulations to be written before you can actually know the impact. I didn't go back to the Hill much after that.

That’s sort of sums up my attitude toward sequestration and the fiscal cliff. Before the election I thought it was important because it was helping people decide who to vote for.

But now, there’s not much mystery to how to fix the problem. Just get on with it. Do something.

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